Archives for August 2018

Gin is the current drinks craze in the UK. I’m glad for this as I’ve been drinking copious amounts of the stuff for over 30 years. In the 1980’s Gin was an acquired taste then and was mainly drunk by the middle and upper classes. Hence it had an air of sophistication about it. I was introduced to it by a friend who moved in classier circles than me. I started to drink Gin as my main drink on a night out for 3 reasons 1) I liked the taste 2) I thought it did make me appear sophisticated and 3) I learned I could tolerate large amounts of the stuff without the adverse effects that wine brought on.

History of Gin

Gin was claimed by many to have been invented in the 16th century in Leiden, Holland by Dr. Sylvius de Bouve, a Doctor who specialised in the Circulation of the body and was originally prescribed as medical treatment, thought to aid circulation. It was then known as Genever. This origin is heavily disputed. It was developed through a gradual coming together of both spirit and Juniper. There appears to be no doubt that the countries of origin were Holland and Belgium. The prospering distilleries of Holland distributed it to The Dutch East India Trading Company taking it across the world. When British and Dutch soldiers fought together small bottles of it were carried by them and drank before battles, coining the term ‘Dutch Courage’. The name change from Genever to Geneva and the really shortened to what it is today, Gin. It gradually made its way to the UK and an early mention of it was in the Jacobean era in Massingers play The Duke of Milan. Due in part to its low cost, it became the drink of choice. By 1750 over 11 million gallons were being consumed by Londoners annually. Eventually, a series of laws made it less commonly found, and by the mid-19th century gin came to be considered a gentleman’s drink.

In 1857 the British Crown took over the governance of India, and more Brits began to make their way to the Indian subcontinent and other warm-weather climes. However, early immigrants struggled with the ravages of malaria in the tropical climate. It was thought that the cure to ward off this illness was the gin and tonic.

Back in the day, tonic water was infused heavily with quinine, an extract from the South American cinchona tree. Known among the indigenous population as the “fever tree” because its bark was able to stop chills, cinchona bark was first brought to Europe in the 1640s when it was shown to cure and prevent malaria. Tonic water thus became an essential part of Britain’s colonialism, although its taste in those days was bitter and harsh. Brits soon found that the addition of gin, sugar, ice, and citrus was the perfect way to temper the bitterness and make the cure palatable. The use of Tonic as a cure for Malaria has been studied scientifically in recent years and found to be untrue. To imbibe the amount of Quinine required to ward off Malaria you would need to drink 67 litres per day!

Mother’s Ruin

It had a terrible reputation at one time as it was cheap and widely available. It caused a crisis and was seen as serious at the time as the drugs problem of today. It was even given as wages to some. Much of the gin was drunk by women, consequently the children were neglected, daughters were sold into prostitution, and wet nurses gave gin to babies to quieten them. This worked provided they were given a large enough dose! This led to the drink being known as Mother’s Ruin.

Present Day

The current boom in Gin drinking, sales and distilleries was started by Sipsmiths in 2009. It has continued to grow in popularity and show’s no sign of abating. It is thought now to be the Nations number one spirit of choice overtaking Vodka. One factor in it’s rise in popularity is the cocktail revival and Gin is a key player here because of the fact that it’s usually consumed as part of a mixed drink and because it has a long and storied history in the cocktail world. Finally, gin’s inherent variety of flavors and relatively short production time make it a natural go-to for the small distilleries that have sprung up around the globe, practically overnight. When you come right down to it, gin is basically flavored or infused vodka — an un-aged grain spirit bolstered with herbs and spices. As there’s no aging period, distillers can produce gin and get it to market very quickly.

Current Personal Favourites

I will end with my current personal favourites – I say current because this rapidly changes due to the vast amount of products available!

1 – Bombay Sapphire, this used to be an expensive, luxury brand but is now often a bar’s house gin. I love this and it is probably my go to gin

2 – Whitney Neil Quince – I have only found this whilst on holiday in Northumberland and it is delicious. It has a very strong but pleasant citrussy taste. So different to all the others I have tried.

3 – Zymurgorium Sweet Violet Liqueur – This is stocked and served in Wetherspoons, I love this pub chain, and that is another post for another day! This is sweet and the taste is reminiscent of Palma Violet sweets, one of my childhood favourites. The big plus for this in my eyes is that it is a Manchester gin. Manchester is becoming a big manufacturer and distributor of gins from small, but growing, distilleries. I have to confess that as well as drinking with tonic I have been known to commit the cardinal sin of having it mixed with Lemonade! A really sweet experience.

4 – Gordons Premium Pink Distilled – No list would be complete without a mention for Gordon’s or a pink gin. Gordon’s used to be the most popular Gin around and was mine until Bombay Sapphire came along. There are many pink gin’s on the market but this is my favourite. Gin mixed with the flavours of strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants. I think it tastes mainly of Strawberries and is very enjoyable at any time of the day. Again, if you find tonic too bitter this is nice with lemonade!

5 – Ophir Oriental Spiced – This has a hint of citrus with a kick of oriental and peppery spices. Influenced by the fact that Gin spread around the world via the Spice Route. It is unusual and I once enjoyed it served with a garnish of a green chilli.

So there are my 5 current favourites but I must add I always enjoy anything from Aldi’s alcohol range and they have recently held a promotion called Gin Festival.

Tonic

No discussion about gin can be complete without a discussion about it’s partner in Crime – Tonic water. In this case I’m a traditionalist and like long standing brands such as Schweppes and Britvic. Keep it simple – let the gin do the talking.

Do you have a favourite gin or is there one you’re bursting to tell the world about, including me. I’d love to hear your recommendations. Comment or email me

Menopause – the dreaded M word! Or at least it is when you’re in the throws of it! However, it has to be said it’s refreshing that the menopause is now talked about and discussed these days – in my mothers time it was a totally taboo topic! Spoken about only in whispers as ‘The Change’

I’m going to talk about and share my worst symptoms with you. If you’re younger and not yet there don’t feel the menopause is not a subject you need to know about. I’m discussing these symptoms in the hope that you may recognise the suffering or changes in an older female relative, friend or colleague and develop an understanding of where they’re at!

Hot Flushes

This is the symptom that is most commonly recognised. I was always a cold person, needing the heating on in winter months before my husband did. Wearing thick jumpers and roll necks. My first symptoms came on gradually, I found I didn’t feel as cold and generally felt warmer all the time. Then the dreaded flushes struck. Moments when my body would go into total surge and a feeling that my body would explode with molten lava flowing through my veins. Sounds dramatic I know but it’s so true. Working as a nurse in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where the temperature was kept around 21oC, this was a challenge, particularly when I had to gown up to perform an aseptic procedure. Sweat would quite literally trickle down my back. If that wasn’t bad enough the night flushes are even worse. Waking up with my heart pounding accompanied by a feeling of panic and that overwhelming heat. I get a really strange feeling in my calves – the heat seems to emanate from the back of my legs – so bizarre. The bed clothes are flung off and my lags wafted around in the air in an attempt to cool them down. Thankfully they don’t disturb my husband too much, he’s grown used to this behaviour! A purchase of a large pedestal fan prior to the hottest part of this summers heatwave has been my saviour. After describing the effects in that last paragraph I’m sure you can see that it also impacts on my quality of sleep. As for clothing I rarely feel cold and when I do I layer up so that I can remove layers when my flushes rear their ugly head! As for thick jumpers, they are a thing of the past. I have to search to find a jumper that provides heat with ventilation, similar to this! Just the sight of a woman in a high roll neck sweater brings on a hot sweat. I hate to feel wrapped up around the neck and throat. The only time I wear something thick is on the coldest winter days when I go to watch my beloved Manchester City play.

Menopause weight gain around the middle

The hormonal changes of menopause might make you more likely to gain weight around your abdomen than around your hips and thighs. Well I can confirm that this is certainly the case with me! I’m only 4′ 10″ tall and have turned into a stumpy little apple! I reminisce about the days when I could wear a size 6, proving I haven’t always been overweight. Having always loved clothes and fashion its now difficult to find styles and clothes that look flattering. I’m not someone who wishes to wear snug fitting clothes that cling to ripples of tummy rolls. I hate it. I try to be careful and often when shopping for something specific will have to try on around 30 dresses to find 1 suitable. The way I wish to dress is not the way I have to. Opting for loose tents rather than the lovely figure hugging dresses I would love to wear. I don’t feel I over eat, I really limit treats to once a week, no McDonalds, cream cakes or fish and chip takeaways for me. Exercise and staying active is important to me but as I’m now retired and work from home mostly as a part time ebay reseller and now blogger I don’t burn the calories I did when I was a Neonatal Nurse on my feet for up to 13 hours per shift. But I don’t sit on my butt all day watching TV either. I do keep active moving around the house and now go to the gym 3-4 times a week. I find it so difficult to lose weight, a constant struggle, read my post on how I hate my shape

Anxiety

As an adult I’ve always been a positive happy go lucky upbeat person. Always cheery with a humorous quip to make people laugh in all situations. The menopause has brought on levels of anxiety that were previously unknown to me. As a Nurse you see distress and stressful situations all the time and are able to cope with more than your peers. In contrast, since I’ve been going through the menopause I suffer anxiety much more than before. I have always had a fear of flying and require medication when travelling on holiday, now I have anxiety even travelling in the car or visiting new places. I see danger everywhere. That does not mean I have stopped travelling or trying new experiences, I just have to plan a little bit more and I have taken to using Kalms tablets when needed. I have not yet gone down the road of having to visit my Doctor for HRT or other medication. On the whole I manage using my own strategies and I avoid watching in depth news coverage of distressing events. This does not mean I do not keep up with the news and World events I just scan the basic headlines – I’ve become a bit of an Ostrich!

Thinning Hair

Hair loss tends to be subtler in women than it is in men. Most women experience overall hair thinning rather than noticeable bald spots. The thinning can occur on the front, sides, or top of the head. Hair may also fall out in large clumps during brushing and showering. I have always had fine hair but lots of it. With the changes I’ve experienced during the menopause my hair has really thinned out and become even more fine and difficult to style. My wonderful hairdresser reassures me that it is normal for women of my age and that she does not think that my degree of hair loss is a great concern. However that does still mean that she has had to adapt my colour and styling to accommodate these changes. I’m now blond to cover my ever increasing grey hair and I have to adopt a simple bob. I used to be able to have volume and tease into shape using mousse and gels. Recently despite battling with styles it just falls and flops into a soft bob, so rather than continue to tease and use a lot of heat styling products I have conceded and gone with a style that nature is telling me I should wear.

Menopause brain Fog

Brain fog is the one symptom of the menopause that really influenced my decision to take early retirement. I was working in a very senior clinical role as an Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and needed to be at the top of my game. I was struggling with concentration and memory issues. This was quite worrying initially until I realised that these were symptoms of the menopause rather than anything else. There are times when this brain fog means you have to stop mid sentence to try and remember the next word you want to say. Remembering names and details were becoming more difficult, particularly when under pressure. My brain appeared to be in overload. Particularly as I had always been commended for my memory for detail. Younger colleagues I knew were looking at me and thinking – how the hell did she get this job! This is becoming something taken seriously in other professions particularly the Police Force who are having to consider strategies to support female officers, particularly as Pension changes mean they have to work longer through this very difficult time of their careers. I for one welcome these measures, if I did not have the ability to retire at 55 I would be struggling to continue, perhaps even having to resort to sick leave to take time out due to stress.

Now that I’ve told you these issues I appreciate they all sound negative and do not reflect this time of life in a positive light. It is worth addressing these issues as a woman today now spends approximately one third of their life menopausal. I want to end by saying that life is not all bad, in fact this third age of my life is possibly the best era of my life in many ways. I am now out of the daily slog of full time work, I’m in control of what I do with my time. My confidence levels are high, I know who I am and what I want from life. The menopause is an irritation to be dealt with but hey it’s not spoiling my retirement party!

So if you are reading this and are suffering like me let me know by email or commenting how you cope. Consequently, if you know a female relative, friend or colleague who is struggling I hope my words can help you relate to their struggles and have sympathy.

August Goals

I can’t believe we’re here already Summer is passing so quickly. I hope you’re all enjoying the lovely weather? I’m always excited to see August arrive as it heralds the start of another football season, one of my biggest passions in life! My life is now scheduled around the fixtures of my beloved club, Manchester City. I set goals every month and usually over commit. I aim to keep them simple this month

Declutter

I have this on my goals every month and choose an area. The house was clutter free when we moved in 2 ½ years ago. However it is building up again. We are lucky enough to have inherited floor to ceiling fitted wardrobes in the main and 2nd bedroom. One wardrobe in the 2nd bedroom is floor to ceiling shelves and I filled it with baskets and have them all filled. Lots of them are filled with sample toiletries. Plus a huge box with props that I use for photos for competition entries. Entering competitions is my main hobby after football and I may discuss this more in another post. This is the area I am going to work on and tidy. Here is my before photo. Hopefully next month I can give you an update with the task completed. My goal is to have swapped from small baskets into bigger ones and macro sort. If you want hints on tips on decluttering take a look at one of my favourite YouTubers, Clutterbug who I follow and love

Admin

I need to complete my HMRC self assessment for the tax year 2017/2018. I’m good at keeping track of my incoming money but rubbish at my expenses. My desk is littered with receipts. My goal is to sort through them into envelopes, 1 for each month of the tax year in preparation for completing my self assessment in September.

Fitness and weight loss

Another goal that is constant. I do however mean to step this up in August in preparation for our first cruise holiday in September. I find it so difficult to lose weight in the menopause, especially the bit around my middle. See my earlier post about this. I got back into the gym mid July and am hoping to really up my game in August. My goal is to lose 1 stone by the time of the cruise. That is a huge ask for me but I’m going to move more and eat less.

Cooking

I used to really enjoy cooking and when I retired I though I would have 1 day a week as a baking day. Hey! what happened to that? I find I do less than before. I do cook 5 days out of 7, the other 2 we either eat out or have a takeaway. This month my goal is to try 1 new meal each week. Ìn keeping with my above goal the new meal will be a healthy one probably a slimming world recipe from a Pinch of Nom an excellent resource of recipes.

I think these are enough for this month. If I set too many I fail.

What about you- what are your goals for August. I love hearing what others do , they really motivate me and provide me with inspiration. Let me know yours and what you find are the things that derail your good intentions, or maybe you don’t get derailed. If you always achieve I would love to know how you stay focused.

Primary Sidebar

I’m Elaine a Neonatal Nurse who retired from the NHS at age 55. I’m loving this next phase of my life – Retirement is the best job I ever had. I want to share over 50’s lifestyle tips including age appropriate beauty reviews, coping with the trials and tribulations of the Menopause, weight gain around the middle, fashion, travel. Also using my Neonatal experience for gift guides and ways to support families of Preterm and sick newborns.